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Operations Group Bravo of the Mission Command Training Program completed a brigade Warfighter Exercise at Camp Bowie, Texas, last week, the first time Bravo has conducted a non-counterinsurgency training event. Operations Group Bravo trained the staff of the 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Texas Army National Guard, to work together as a team if the unit is called to participate in an overseas contingency mission.
The exercise, which ran Dec. 4-14, gave the operations group an opportunity to adapt to training issues that were not discussed at length in counterinsurgency. Since July 2006, Operations Group Bravo has been conducting COIN training for units preparing for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the last nine months Bravo has been preparing to conduct this full-spectrum exercise.
Col. Thomas Christensen, chief of Operations Group Bravo, said he was pleased with the effort his unit made to assume its new mission.
“I’m very proud of the work the entire team has done in preparation for this Warfighter exercise,” he said. “The Soldiers, civilians, and contractors all worked together to gain expertise in combined arms maneuver, develop a scenario, and plan a world-class exercise using a new simulation. “
The 56th IBCT is a unit of the 36th Infantry Division, a National Guard unit also known as the Texas Division. The 36th participated in World War I, World War II, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The unit exercise brought in National Guard Soldiers from across the state, including El Paso, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin. Camp Bowie itself has been utilized since WWI to train Soldiers for overseas duty. Located outside the town of Brownwood the small post sits in the middle of Texas cattle country.
The exercise was conducted with the 56th setting up a brigade tactical operations center in a Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter, better known to Soldiers as a DRASH. The field where the TOC was set up flooded because of almost non-stop rain during the exercise. Operations Group Bravo set up in an adjacent building where training was monitored, White Cell roleplayers provided input and observer/trainers compared notes when not actually working with their opposite numbers in the TOC.
Col. Jeffrey Breor, commander of the 56th IBCT, said he was impressed with the training his unit received.
“It was fantastic,” Breor said. “We haven’t had an opportunity to train for this type of mission for six or seven years.”
The 56th’s Warfighter also saw the first use of the WARSIM simulation software to train at the brigade-battalion level. Originally the software was designed to train divisions and above.
“WARSIM reduces the number of systems and models needed to support the exercise,” said Maj. Andrew Holmes, the MCTP S6 who served as the chief information officer for the Warfighter. Holmes said WARSIM “is very stable, with no simulation downtime as it connects with the Army Battle Command System.”
ABCS is the system used by U.S. Army staffs to communicate on the battlefield, receive and send reports, and to control units at lower echelons. It is a terminal-based digital system.
On the other hand, the system can still be improved and Holmes participated in the exercise to address any potential problems and to catalog software changes made during the exercise.
“Compared to JCATS (Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation) we don’t have the same detailed fidelity yet but we’re getting there,” Holmes said.
Overall, the Warfighter served to make the 56th a more effective combat unit, according to Christensen.
“They met their training objectives and made significant improvements in their ability to fight,” he said.
Breor said he felt that the exercise provided an opportunity to regain atrophied staff skills, which were emphasized before the last 10 years of overseas contingency operations.
“I think the Warfighter program is critical to reserve component units in keeping us relevant,” he said.
Operations Group Bravo of the Mission Command Training Program completed a brigade Warfighter Exercise at Camp Bowie, Texas, last week, the first time Bravo has conducted a non-counterinsurgency training event. Operations Group Bravo trained the staff of the 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Texas Army National Guard, to work together as a team if the unit is called to participate in an overseas contingency mission.
The exercise, which ran Dec. 4-14, gave the operations group an opportunity to adapt to training issues that were not discussed at length in counterinsurgency. Since July 2006, Operations Group Bravo has been conducting COIN training for units preparing for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the last nine months Bravo has been preparing to conduct this full-spectrum exercise.
Col. Thomas Christensen, chief of Operations Group Bravo, said he was pleased with the effort his unit made to assume its new mission.
“I’m very proud of the work the entire team has done in preparation for this Warfighter exercise,” he said. “The Soldiers, civilians, and contractors all worked together to gain expertise in combined arms maneuver, develop a scenario, and plan a world-class exercise using a new simulation. “
The 56th IBCT is a unit of the 36th Infantry Division, a National Guard unit also known as the Texas Division. The 36th participated in World War I, World War II, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The unit exercise brought in National Guard Soldiers from across the state, including El Paso, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin. Camp Bowie itself has been utilized since WWI to train Soldiers for overseas duty. Located outside the town of Brownwood the small post sits in the middle of Texas cattle country.
The exercise was conducted with the 56th setting up a brigade tactical operations center in a Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter, better known to Soldiers as a DRASH. The field where the TOC was set up flooded because of almost non-stop rain during the exercise. Operations Group Bravo set up in an adjacent building where training was monitored, White Cell roleplayers provided input and observer/trainers compared notes when not actually working with their opposite numbers in the TOC.
Col. Jeffrey Breor, commander of the 56th IBCT, said he was impressed with the training his unit received.
“It was fantastic,” Breor said. “We haven’t had an opportunity to train for this type of mission for six or seven years.”
The 56th’s Warfighter also saw the first use of the WARSIM simulation software to train at the brigade-battalion level. Originally the software was designed to train divisions and above.
“WARSIM reduces the number of systems and models needed to support the exercise,” said Maj. Andrew Holmes, the MCTP S6 who served as the chief information officer for the Warfighter. Holmes said WARSIM “is very stable, with no simulation downtime as it connects with the Army Battle Command System.”
ABCS is the system used by U.S. Army staffs to communicate on the battlefield, receive and send reports, and to control units at lower echelons. It is a terminal-based digital system.
On the other hand, the system can still be improved and Holmes participated in the exercise to address any potential problems and to catalog software changes made during the exercise.
“Compared to JCATS (Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation) we don’t have the same detailed fidelity yet but we’re getting there,” Holmes said.
Overall, the Warfighter served to make the 56th a more effective combat unit, according to Christensen.
“They met their training objectives and made significant improvements in their ability to fight,” he said.
Breor said he felt that the exercise provided an opportunity to regain atrophied staff skills, which were emphasized before the last 10 years of overseas contingency operations.
“I think the Warfighter program is critical to reserve component units in keeping us relevant,” he said.
